PRESIDENT'S REMARKS: ADAM KREMEN, PH.D.

Who are you? Are you an analyst? A psychotherapist? A student? Do you see people on the couch? In a clinic? Or a hospital? Once a week? Twice a week? Four times? Do you believe that Oedipal phantasies emerge in early infancy? Do you believe in a mirror phase? Do you interpret the leading edge of anxiety? Or work from surface to depth? Do you conduct play therapy? Do you see couples? Are you an academic? Do you supervise?

This list could easily continue, but the point is probably clear: if you are one of the psychoanalytically inclined, you belong to a remarkably diverse world. Yet the world of psychoanalysis has long suffered from conflict and competition between groups, to the detriment of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy within the wider world of clinical practice. We must continue to find ways to speak to each other across all our differences — that is, to be a community. After all, we share a commitment to the notions of the unconscious and of transference.

So, who am I? I am a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, unaffiliated with an institute. I work in private practice and in an assisted-living program for severe personality disorder and psychosis. I see adults, adolescents and couples. I am not connected to any one school, but I like Winnicott and Bion a lot, to name a few. This year, I am president of NCSPP. And I am very interested in finding out about you so that we can better support the diversity of our psychoanalytically inclined community. I hope you might help me do this by completing a brief online survey, which should take no more than 5 minutes:

Thank you in advance for your participation in this important community initiative. I look forward to discussing the results in the coming months.